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Friday, February 28, 2014

I am Waiting For Your Return (我等着你回來)

The place
where I stayed when I was doing my diploma course was quite haunted. It was a 4
rows 4 stories apartment just off Kuala Kangsar Road, behind a primary school
in Ipoh. That was about 20 years ago and I was staying in an apartment on 4th
floor together with 4 other friends, one of them was a girl name Joanne. She
was amongst 4 female students taking engineering course then.

There were
many strange noises in the midst of the nights: sound of small marbles dropping
on the floor making sound such as: ‘tick, tick, tick…’ as well as the sound of
people moving furniture. No one gave that too much thought as to why kids like
to play marbles in the middle of the night; or why people moving furniture at
2am every morning. Well, those sounds were just child’s play until I heard this
eerie melody during the bewitching hours:

“我等着你回來… 我等着你回來…”

“I’m waiting for your
return… I’m waiting for your return…”

At first I
just thought someone in the block play this oldie as he/she just couldn’t fall
asleep and nothing strange thus far. At times it seemed that someone has sang
the song at a far; while at times it seemed that the person just sang it beside
my ears…

I did tried
to trace the where about the song came from many times just to satisfy my
curiosity, but after I managed to walk throughout the flat compound; I just
couldn’t find the mysterious singer.

This was
just one of those nights after my exam and after I had a late night supper with
some friends, I went for a walk at the apartment’s playground. There were some
benches for the residents to rest. There, I saw a girl sitting on a bench
towards the southern end of the playground. At this time the familiar lyric
started in the air:

“我等着你回來… 我等着你回來…”

“I’m waiting for your
return… I’m waiting for your return…”

To tell you
the truth, my curiosity overwhelmed my fear at that time. So, I approached the
girl and to my surprised that she was Joanne! At that time, Joanne also noticed
my presence and she gave me an eerie yet cold smile and said: “Let me sing a
song for you…”

My respond
was then: “Singing in the dead of the night? You must be kidding!”

Joanne didn’t
answer me but her head just dropped and the familiar lyric was in the air
again:

“我等着你回來… 我等着你回來…”

“I’m waiting for your
return… I’m waiting for your return…”

Suddenly I
realized that that was the lyric that has haunted me for months! Joanne sang
with such a sad rhythm that the more she sang; the feeling of under siege by
the lyric was so immense that a feeling of chill rose from my spine. My legs
started to shiver vigorously. At the same time, the street light beside the
bench was flickering profusely. It is only now that I realized Joanne was
possessed!

I wanted to
flee from the scene but my legs seemed to be glued onto the ground. So, I have
no choice but raised my voice and asked Joanne:

“Who are you? Why do you possess my friend? Is
there anything I can do for you?”

Joanne
remained with her head dropped to her chest, said without looking at me:

“My name is Chui Lan, I stayed here with my
husband during WWII. I was sick and my husband went to town to get some
medicine for me but he never returned! There was nothing I could do with my
fragile body but lying in my sickbed and sing the lyric repeatedly until today…

I couldn’t be reincarnated because I have
missed the light. I will leave your friend alone if you promised to deliver me
so that I can be reincarnated to be with my husband in my coming reincarnation...
”

I promised
to bring the lady ghost Chui Lan to see a Tibetan lama in Tambun so that the
spirit can be delivered before I leave Ipoh. After hearing my promise, Chui Lan
leaved Joanne’s body and I could heard some yelling from afar:

“Liew, remember your
promise!”

At the same
time, Joanne was herself again and she was bewildered as why she was sitting in
the bench and dozed off; I couldn’t tell her the truth, of course! My friends
thought Joanne and I was having heart to heart talk, but I could only smile
bitterly frankly speaking.